The most important thing that I try to instill in students is the ABC
concept. If you do not have these three covered, you have a dead patient. If a pt
codes, forget the monitor, forget the IV, grab the ambu bag.
If your pt presents (and no I am not considering COPD) with labored resp,
rate 40, diaphoretic and the sat is 90%, what would you do? 15 L NRBM 02
If the same pt presents with a sat of 80%, what would you do? 15 L
NRBM 02.
My point is that the pt clinical picture shows this pt needs oxygen.
Don't deprive people of oxygen just to see how low their sat is. It's kind of
like being at the pool with a life preserver in your hand-----are you going to
see how long the drowning person can stay above the surface before you throw it
to him?
The first drug a MI pt needs is oxygen. I don't care if the SpO2 monitor
reads 100% on room air. Remember, the SpO2 reads hemoglobin saturation, not
the level of oxygen.